Regional Grants:
Southern California
The Southern California Job Creators Quest Grant awards a total of $100,000 to 25 businesses in Southern California.
Chicago
The Chicago Job Creators Quest Grant awards a total of $100,000 to 25 small businesses across the city of Chicago.
Philadelphia & New Jersey
The Pennsylvania/New Jersey Job Creators Quest Grant awards a total of $100,000 to 25 diverse-led small businesses in the region.
Texas
The Texas Job Creators Quest Grant awards $100,000 in grants to 25 small businesses across the state of Texas.
Regional Grants
Pride Fund
The LGBTQIA+ National Grant provides eligible small businesses the chance to receive one of 25 grant packages totaling $25,000. Founders First is committed to increasing the number of diverse founder-led businesses generating over $1 million dollars in revenues and creating wage jobs.
Kitty Fund
The Kitty Fund Grant provides eligible small businesses the chance to receive one of 25 grant packages totaling $25,000 to moms who run employer-based small businesses with two or more employees. The award was created to honor Founder First CEO Kim Folsom’s mother, Catherine “Kitty” Abrams Tadlock Webster, who passed away in early 2020.
Stephen Tadlock Grant
The Stephen L. Tadlock Fund was established in honor of our founder and board chair’s brother, Stephen Tadlock. Stephen Tadlock was a U.S. Navy Veteran and passed away in June 2019. This grant provides eligible Veteran small businesses the chance to receive one of 25 grant packages totaling $25,000.
Regional Grant Requirements
- Current staff of 2 – 20 employees.
- Ability to add 1 – 2+ net new premium wage jobs in the next 12 months.
- Must be a for-profit company with annual revenues between $100K and $3 million.
- Founder identifies as one of the following: BIPOC, Female, LGBTQIA+, Military Veteran, or located in a low-to-moderate income area.
Grant recipients are also selected based on their demonstrated ability to maintain and grow their workforce and their ongoing commitment to creating premium wage jobs in their communities.
National Grant Requirements
Stephen L. Tadlock:
- Must be a U.S. military Veteran.
- Must be a CEO, President, or Business Owner.
- Must have an active U.S. based business.
- Must have between 2 to 50 employees.
Kitty Fund:
- Founder identifies as a mother.
- Business must be located in the United States.
- Business annual revenue does not exceed $5M.
- Grant money can be used in whatever way Founders need to use it.
Source: https://foundersfirstcdc.org/grants
